Omaha boy learning how to eat at 5 years old

“He wants to try something. He puts it in his mouth and doesn’t know what to do with it,” said Jack’s mother, Tina Moser.

Jack was born with a rare birth defect. His large intestine was missing and his small intestine was barely functioning. Three years ago Jack had a life-saving triple organ transplant, receiving a new pancreas, liver and small intestine at the Nebraska Medical Center. He’s been tube fed his entire life because his body couldn’t tolerate food.

“It’s a whole mental and emotional thing that a lot of people don’t think of. You have to learn it as a baby,” said Tina.

Jack recently started feeding therapy at UNMC’s Munroe Meyer Institute. A few hours a week, he meets with occupational and behavioral therapists to repeatedly work on the intricacies of holding a cup, taking sips and swallowing a milk-type formula.

The hope is to graduate to solid foods and eventually end the tube feedings that have kept the boy alive. In addition to the stresses of being a transplant patient and taking daily medicine, his mom said Jack is in constant pain and has a blood disorder that’s treated with chemotherapy. He’s in remission right now.

“Children that have a transplant and eat by mouth have better outcomes than children receiving all their needs via the tube,” said behavior specialist Rebecca Groff.

Jack’s family moved to Omaha from Missouri several years ago to be close to doctors. He’ll attend kindergarten this fall and his parents desperately want him to fit in with his peers and be able to eat with them.

“We go out to eat, we socialize. So from a child’s standpoint, if they can’t eat lunch with other children, that eliminates a lot of opportunity to act like a typical child,” said Groff.

The family’s insurance will not cover the cost of a full-time intensive feeding therapy program, which costs up to $50,000. It includes daily training for two weeks, plus follow-up care for a year.

“We always buy a cake for his transplant anniversary. You know when a child turns 1 and you get them a cake and they get it all over them? He’s never done that. I want him to do that,” said Tina.

Jack’s future school, St. Margaret Mary, is holding a Heart and Sole walk-a-thon on Monday, May 21. More than 500 students from the school have collected pledges and they’ll walk around Memorial Park in support of the Moser family to help pay for Jack’s therapy. Jack’s sister, Jordan, attends second grade at the school.

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